XHYXNAME KIRSTYANDREWS
Contemplating the weather
Kirsty Andrews weighs up some of the obstacles and rewards of out-of-season diving in the UK
Satellite image of a storm system ripping across the South Coast of England
The early months of the year are still good diving months in my book . I ’ m happy to dip my toe in chilly waters , but I do tailor my diving approach during Winter and early Spring : these aren ’ t the dates for big long-term trip bookings - more an opportunistic rush to the coast when conditions look favourable .
This is the multi-million-dollar question : with an eye on our notoriously fickle , unreliable and often really quite inhospitable weather conditions in the early months of the year , what to look out for ? There are quite a number of factors at play .
The first point to mention is of course temperature , but this is the simplest and most predictable . Many divers would poohpooh the idea of entering water that is less than double figures , Centigrade-speaking , and that works for them , but I am blessed with decent circulation and relatively wellfunctioning and well-insulating equipment so I ’ m not too worried about water temperature , at least as far as the UK range goes . Air temperature is actually more of a concern when I get out , especially with a brisk wind ( more on that later ) but this can also be planned for with clothing , cover and
24 hot food and drink , so let ’ s not worry about that too much either .
Of course , I will check the strength and direction of the prevailing wind , compulsively , day after day and hour after hour as the potential dive window draws closer . Is that a pressure system I see approaching ? Offshore winds can be forgiving but even the slightest touch of onshore breeze can mean a wipe-out , certainly for shore diving , or a disagreeable swell coming in from certain directions . Then there ’ s the state of the tide of course : high water slack ideally , to bring in clean water for best visibility . What ’ s the moon doing , I wonder to myself : Spring tides or Neaps ? And if that nice high-water slack occurs at 5am in January , well , that ’ s not much use to me , without a torch , a good alarm clock and a very strong desire to dive at least .
Even if all is looking good so far , there ’ s still potential for a spanner in the works . What about the driving rain in the preceding week ? The waters may be becalmed and the sun may be out on the day but if it ’ s been hosing it down for days beforehand then in all likelihood this will have kicked up the viz , and / or those excess waters will have flowed into rivers and into the sea , bringing murk . I once arrived at the coast to find that a nearby rockfall had turned the water into a remarkable shade of ochre . I ’ m not even going to mention the frustrations of a period of excellent weather leading to an unseasonal plankton bloom - that ’ s a problem usually for later months at least .
It ’ s at this point that I am more than a little envious of coastal friends who can look out of their windows or meander to their local site and decide then and there whether today is a diving day or not . Such luxury ! Being an hour or so from several potential diving sites in differing directions , I need to plan ahead a bit more , and take my chances , but I do have the advantage of choice and following the best conditions .
All this may sound like a lot of hard work and a recipe for frustration . Sometimes it is , and sometimes despite all the forward planning , it doesn ’ t work out and I find myself going for an unplanned coastal windy walk , or just going straight to the pub . But sometimes , it comes together beautifully , with visibility for days , flat calm seas , beautiful early sunsets and crisp clear conditions , and those moments make all the planning worthwhile . �